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Monday, April 25, 2016

Finding her voice: Great Falls teen with autism uses technology to communicate

The Kopps found that computers were one of the areas both children could relate to, and an online article about children with autism having success communicating using technology led them to buy Kylie an iPad.

According to Anna DiLello, a speech-language pathologist for Benefis Health System who works with children who have autism, parents should try every avenue available to find a way for their kids to communicate.

“Technology is a wonderful thing,” said DiLello, “but I think the challenge with it is, is it appropriate for that child? There are different stages to trying to get them there, and not every kid will respond to it. Ideally, we’d like every child to be talking. That is not the case, obviously, with every child.”

When Great Falls High School teacher Kathy Wanner started working with Kylie four years ago, she had the iPad but did not use it for communication.